[fr_freak]

A dive is a seedy bar, so a “dive bar” would be a “seedy bar bar”.

Not sure about that one. I don't know the history of the word "dive", but in my lifetime it has been used to describe any place that is rundown, seedy, etc. It could be applied to motels, coffee shops, and bars, so saying "dive bar" is just clarifying what kind of dive you're talking about.

[padubis]

The need for such a clarification is nothing short of tragic. Surely you wouldn’t argue with a man who has spent so much of his life hunched over a cheap draft hoping the barmaid would notice his brooding sensitivity.